Sleeve press



Dec. 19, 1944.

e. R. BICKNELL ET AL SLEEVE PRESS Filed Feb. '7, 1941 FlGrl FIG. 4

INVENTORS GEORGE R. BICKNELL FRED A. HEIDENFELDER M M W ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 19, 1944 l ts? George R. Bicknell.

fel'der, Chicago, IllL, assignors Antioch. and Fred A. Heidento The American Laundry Machinery Company; Norwoodf Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February '7, 1941, Serial No. 371,926.

4 Claims. (Cl; 38 123 This invention .relates to improvementslin a press particularly adapted for. ironingthe sleeves of mens shirts.

An object of thezpresentinventionis to provide a press having a pair of beds or bucks adapted to receive simultaneously the two sleeves of a shirt from the shoulder to the cuff, laid flat and of. double thickness, together with a coacting head to press these sleeves simultaneously.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel meansfor clamping the cuff endoi a sleeve so as to assist in the smoothlayof the sleeve, to hold the .placketsin proper position for ironing, and to hold the cufi portion .of the sleeve away from the heated head or-chest so as to prevent drying of the cufi. l.

Another object ofthe presentinvention is to provide novel clamping means associated with a pressing buck, together with novel means for releasing the clamp as the press closes. The invention also provides a plurality of clamps adapted to be placed individually in holding or release position, together with power means for simulta-. neously releasing all clamps.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the accompanying drawing and specification and the essential featureswill be summarized in the claims.

In the drawinaFi'g. '1 is a side elevation of a pressing machine embodying our invention with. control mechanism therefor shown diagrammatically; Fig; 2 ha fragmenta'l'frontelevation of the press of Fig. 1; showing the'beds' and associated clamps; while Fig; Bis an enlarged fragrnental view of a portion ofFig; 2 with parts broken away'to more clearly'show' the operating parts. Fig. 4 is a small fragmental top plan view of the bucks.

Since our invention is applicable to various types of pressing mechanism a very brief description of the mechanismof Fig. 1 will be suffi'cient. The pressing beds 01' bucks It! are rigidly mount on a pedestal l l which is in turn mounted for e tical movement in' the frame I2; A pin Illa extends downwardly in position-'to'be engaged'by a bell crank l3 operable by fluid motor l4. A heated prcssinghead ldcomplementary to the bucks it isrmounted'on head lever l6 andoscillatable by a toggle H which is actuated by fluid motor l8. 1 When it is'desired to close the press, valves it and) are moved to fiuid supply position causing motor l a to straighten toggle l1 carrying the pressing head [5 to position above the bucks Hi. When the toggle l'l reaches a strutfo-rming position it opens valve 2| so as to supply lly open valve 22 to motor to. move upwardly against the pressing heads. To open thepress, valveZZ ismomentarily. moved to cut off the flow of fluid to motor l4, whereupon a spring pressed plunger 23 and a spring 24 causes the pressing head to open. The valve'25 is a tandemvalve for opening another press and-has no connection with the present invention.

The bucks H) are preferably flat-or convexupwardly as here-shown and each-adapted to receive the sleeve of a mans shirt from the shoulder to the cufi, Ordinarily each buck is longer than itis wide and they. are assembled in longitudinal alinement with suificient spacing between them to. permit the bodyof the .shirtto lie below the top surfaceof the bucks l0. while the sleeves are being ironed. Clamping means .to be pres.- ently described. is provided at the. outer end. of each buck. and in operation thecuff of a sleeve is first held .beneath the clamp asindicatedat 26 in Fig. 3, after which thesleeve is laid flat along the top ofthe buck,=stretching thelsame awayfrom the clamped end so as to arrangethe plackets .of the sleeve smooth condition for ironing. When both sleeves have been laid in this manner with the body of the shirt folded -.down between and below the bucks Ill; the pressing head l5-is brought down and the pressis sealed for a sufficient length of timeto iron the sleeves.

It will be noted in Fig. 4 the bucks ID are in longitudinal alignment but their inner ends are inclined in a front to rear direction so as to provide a buck of different length at the front and rear of the press. Also the longer portion of the right-hand buck is in longitudinal alignment with the longer portion of the left-hand buck, and similarly the shorter portions of the bucks are in alignment. The bucks in are of a width from front to rear which is wider. than the sleeve of a shirt and the length fluid through norma l4 causing thebucks of the rear portion of'the buck will accommodate a long sleeve. from-the cuff to theshoulder seam while the front portion of thebuckwill support a shorter sleeve from the cuff to the shoulder seam. In other words, the difference in length between the. front and rear portions of a buck isof the order of several inches so as to take care of the range of sleeve lengths normally encountered. It results from this construction that with the body of the shirt lying between the bucks l0 each sleeve may be laid along one of the bucks with the shoulder seam aligned along the inclined inner end edge of each buck and this may be done facing upwardly and in that in top plan view with a wide range of shirt sizes and sleeve lengths.

This eliminates the necessity of pressing into and distorting the body of the shirt during the sleeve pressing operation with the subsequent necessity for re-dampening of those body portions on that account. Also a simple rigid buck of fixed shape is nevertheless adapted for the pressing of shirt sleeves of difierent lengths.

The clamping means comprises two identical clamps located at the outer ends of the bucks l and one onl will be described. The clamp 21 is pivotally mounted at 28 in a fixed bracket 35 connected with the pedestal ll. Below the pivot 28 a link 29 is pivotally connected with the clamp 21. This link passes freely through an opening in shaft 30 and the spring 3! is engaged between collar 32 and the head of the link so as to normally urge the head of the link upwardly. This provides an over-center device so that the clamp 21 will remain either in the full line or dot-dash line position of Fig. 3, after being so placed. A stop pin 33 limits the movement of the clamp in its open position.

Preferably power means is provided for open-- ing the clamp and in the present instance this comprises a small servomotor 34 carried by the bracket 35. The servomotor has a piston Sta which engages the lower arm of a release lever 36 which is pivotally mounted in the bracket 35 at the point 31. This lever has a nose 36a adapted to engage clamp 21 below clamp is in holding position and to move the clamp to open position when fluid is supplied to the servomotor. A stop pin 3 6?) engages bracket 35 to limit movement of lever 36 in clamp-releasing direction.

Preferably means is provided for opening the clamps 21 just before the press closes. For this purpose the conduit system 38 which supplies fluid to motor M for finally closing the press pivot 28 when the is provided with a branch 38a which conducts fluid through two branches 38b to the servomotor 34. Because the branch 38a is located nearer the supply valve 2|, and further, because servomotors 34, both singly and collectively. are

of such smal1- volumetric capacity as compared with the large pressure motor l4, and also on account of their lesser duty or load, pressure will build up in and move over the pistons of the servomotors 34 almost instantaneousl and well before operation of motor I4 is completed, thereby to move the clamps 21 away fro-m their clamping position and toward their release position before the press is finally closed under full pressure.

In operation, the clamps 21 are moved manually by the operator from the full line position of Fig. 3 to the dot-dash position thereof against the cuif 26 of each shirt sleeve when arrangin the lay of the sleeves on the bucks Ill. The operator then pinches the shoulder at the exact folding line while grasping the other seam at the arm pit and draws the seam taut across the buck. This not only facilitates making a rapid and smooth lay but indexes the sleeve crease to coincide with the shoulder crease which is later made during a folding operation. Thepress is then close-d and just before the motor !4 moves the bucks into final engagement with the pressing head, fluid is sup-plied through conduit 38a and conduits 38b simultaneously to the servoframe, power means for motors 34 causing lever 36 to move each clamp to the open position as shown in full lines in Figs. 2 and 3. It results from this construction that the cuiT end of the sleeve is firmly held while the operator makes the lay of the sleeve and the cuif is held away from the heated pressing heads but the clamps are automatically released when the press is closed so that upon comple tion of the pressing or ironing operation the operator may remove the sleeves from the press Without delay.

What we claim is:

1. In a pressing machine, an elongated buck adapted to receive a shirt sleeve laid flat from the shoulder to the cufi, a clamp at the cuff end of said buck for holding the cuiT of a sleeve on said buck, a pressing head coacting with said buck to iron a sleeve thereon, power means for producing relative motion between said head and buck, power means for releasing said clamp, a common power system for both of said power means, and a single control means for energizing said power system.

2. In a pressing machine, an elongated buck adapted to receive a shirt sleeve laid flat from the shoulder to the cuff, a clamp at the cuff end of said buck for holding the cuff of a sleeve on said buck, a pressing head coacting with said buck to iron a sleeve thereon, a fluid actuated motor for producing relative motion between said head and buck, a fluid motor for releasing said clamp, a common conduit connected with a source of pressure fluid and having branches leading to said motors, said branch leading to said clamp release motor being located nearer to the source of pressure fluid than the branch leading to said first named motor, and a control member for admitting pressure fluid to said conduit.

3. A garment pressing machine, comprising relatively movable head and bed members, power means for producing pressure applying closing operation thereof, a controller for said power means, a releasable work clamp movable into and out of clamping relation with the bed, man- .ually operable means whereby said clamp may buck for holding a part of the Work while arranging it, operating means therefor, apressing head mounted upon said causing pressing engagement between said head and buck, and means arranged upon operation of said power mmns to cause movement of the clamping means to its release position prior to the production of final pressure between the head and buck.

GEORGE R. BICKNELL.

FRED A. HEIDENFELDER. 

